Shifty Characters Ch. 03

The moment he seemed sure Larya wouldn't fall again, the man released her with a growl of annoyance. "You got your mind?"

Larya hesitated. She thought—thought of the succubus, her strange arrival in this distant land, her hypnosis-assisted rape by dozens of tiny, handsome little men...

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then opened them. She nodded. "I-is there somewhere I can sit?"

She looked from the stocky man to his companion, a tall, painfully attractive man with red hair and nice but practical clothes. A silver pocket watch hung at his belt, and he was otherwise unarmed. He smiled, and gave his head a tilt. "Sit. Please."

Larya frowned, but she found herself doing as instructed. To her surprise, there was something beneath her. She heard an "Oof!", and a small giggle.

"Silence, pet."

"Sorry," Sinthia responded from beneath Larya. Larya's eyes widened. Not at the horrid treatment of this fey woman, but at the fact that she had started to say the same thing.

Her mind was clearly still a little bit fragile.

"So." The taller man smiled, folding his hands together. "Goblins."

Larya smiled weakly.

The man reached for his pocket watch. "You're clearly very tired. And confused."

Larya nodded. "Y-yes. I..." She was tired. Even more tired than she had...wait. She frowned. "Are you—"

"Please, do try to relax." The man chuckled. "You're clearly very tired. And confused."

You just said that, she thought. But she didn't interrupt again. Interrupting just made her more confused, and that just made him say it again, and...

She shook herself. Gather yourself. You can't let this...

"You're so tired. And so hot. And so confused. Correct?"

Larya bit her lip.

"Correct?" The voice demanded an answer. It was such a nice, smooth voice. So easy to listen to. But so impossible to ignore. Impossible to deceive.

She gave a submissive nod.

The man dropped the pocket watch. It hung by a chain in front of her face. She looked at it, feeling herself drifting back into...

And then the other man was grabbing the red-haired man's arm, making him lower the pocket watch. He was saying something, angry and grumbling. His voice reminded her of an old badger she'd once tried to nurse back to health back in her home town. He had been badly injured by local children throwing stones at it, and had nearly ripped out her jugular when she'd tried to help him. Eventually, she'd had to put him down.

Larya snapped back again. Her eyes widened. She needed rest. Badly. She needed time to gather her thoughts.

And she needed to get away. She turned sluggishly. Needed to escape, before the man could speak again and...and...

But where would she go? Back into the forest, into the goblins' waiting arms?

"Okay." It was the brusque voice talking. Larya allowed herself to listen—for some reason, she trusted the man who looked like a serial killer a good deal more than the hot hypnotist. "Look." The man came around to stand in her way. "You can't run off. We aren't gonna save you if you get caught again."

Larya felt a momentary flash of annoyance, and she held onto it like a lifeline. It was a sign her will was returning to her. "Oh, yeah? Save me for what?" She gestured behind her. "Save me so I can get—get mind-raped into obedience for that asshole and his living sex doll?"

"I can't make you do anything you don't want," the pretty voice sang softly. Larya ignored it.

Actually, no. She didn't ignore it. She listened to it, and it made her angrier. She whirled on the red-haired man, standing up and poking him in the chest. "You are so full of bullshit! Trust me, I know hypnosis. I've dealt with hypnotists. And it's not two-way! It's one person's will on another person's mind, you perverted creep!"

The hypnotist looked startled, unsure of how to react. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Look," the other man snapped, "we aren't gonna hypnotize you. He won't fuck you or anything. We aren't slavetakers or anything, we're bounty hunters. That's like, what, number seven on the Honor Scale? Has us sittin' pretty above bandits, slavers, graverobbers, bards—"

"Actually, I think they put graverobbers at eight on that scale," Larya said, frowning. "And isn't that list out of, like, fifty?"

"Point is, we don't just go kidnappin' people without their permission." The man glared at her, then at his colleague. "Just don't get in our way. We'll finish our job an' deliver you to..what, your village? Farmstead?" He looked around. "Where're your clothes, anyways? Did the goblins burn 'em or something?"

"Uh..." Larya thought back. Her clothes. Three hundred miles away, in a small basement in a wizard's tower, being sniffed by a rogue succubus right now for all she knew. "Yes. The goblins burned them."

"Interesting." The smooth-voiced man sounded skeptical, but he kept his words patronizingly earnest. "Goblins don't usually use fire. I wonder what drove them to—"

"My name's Larya." Larya held out her hand to the rough man. "What's yours?"

The man stared at her hand a moment, then reluctantly shook it. "Snatch. It's not my real name, but it's not my job to be trusted." He pulled his hand away and quickly wiped it against his trousers.

"Th-that's sweat," Larya said quickly, realizing what he must be thinking. "From the...well."

"Balabar," said the smooth-voiced man from behind her. Larya spun, seeing his outstretched hand. She hesitated, then shook it, averting her gaze. "A pleasure," he said, and she believed it. She pulled her hand away very quickly.

She took a breath. "Okay. And who's...um..."

"Oh, her?" Balabar glanced back at the prostrate green-haired woman. "What are you doing on the ground, you silly little bimbo?"

The woman's head shot up, face growing bright red. She seemed to be trying to remember. "Master! Um...uh, I..."

"What a stupid girl." Balabar smirked. "No doubt you are on your knees out of a vain hope." He stepped closer to the fey, letting his clothed crotch come directly level with her face. "What a slutty girl you are."

Larya realized Sinthia was panting. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't make her eyes shift. The fey was so desperate...so submissive...

Larya shivered. So hot.

"Get up, Sinthia," Balabar said. "Don't be rude to our new friend. Look how your submission bothers her."

"I—uh, it's fine—"

Sinthia shot to her feet with a wide-eyed look of horror. "Sorry! Sorry!" She ran to Larya, giving her a fierce—and breathtaking—hug. "Sorry-sorry-MINE-sorry!" She pulled away, gripping Larya by the shoulders and giving a wide smile.

Larya blinked. Sinthia had hissed the odd word in her ear during the hug. Now, the fey looked at her with nothing but love and innocence, but Larya saw a burning hunger in those green eyes.

She pulled away quickly.

"Balabar," Snatch said. "Haven't you got any clothes for the girl? Bad enough I have to look at one naked whore all day."

"Excuse me?" And just like that, the anger was back. Larya supposed that was something this 'Snatch' was good for.

"What?" Snatch looked confused for a moment. "Oh. Right. Uh, not that you're a whore. Whatever." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm just sick of being around naked people. No offense, Lapis."

"That's okay!" said a squeaky, vibrating voice. Larya's attention was drawn back to the blue-eyed fairy, who lay against Snatch's neck, resting peacefully.

"I...may have something," Balabar said. He sounded friendly, but also more than a little smug. He reached into a little pouch at his side. "I keep a few outfits in my bag."

Larya snorted. "That can't possibly—holy devils, how did that fit in there?"

"Mercenary, darling." Balabar winked at her. "We pack light. We don't pack little."

~~~~

Goblin's Note: Don't worry! Next chapter will more than make up for the erotic portion!

Next up: Balabar keeps half his word, Larya gets visited by fairies, and Swish learns just a little bit more about doppelgangers.